| Think you know how to write a business
website homepage? Read this article to make sure.
You probably think you already know what a homepage is. But
if you're like many business website owners, you really don't. The homepages of many
business websites are suffering an identity crisis. They're trying to do the job of
several web pages, and doing none of those jobs well.
What a Business Website Homepage is Not:
- A homepage is not the place to dump a long description of
your business. That's for the "about us" or "company information"
page. On the homepage, this information will just bore most people.
- A homepage is not the place where you list and sell all your
products (unless you only have one or two). You should have a special products and
services page for that, and preferably a shopping cart or catalog. Trying to make people
buy right on your homepage is a little pushy. The homepage will also get over-crowded as
your offerings expand. Instead, just include a list of product categories with links to
inside pages, along with direct links to your biggest sellers.
- A homepage is not the place to include the full text of your
announcements and press releases. Just include a teaser paragraph of each article on the
homepage, with a link to the web page with the full text. If people want to read the full
text, they can. If they don't, you haven't bored them to tears.
- A homepage is not your company president's or owner's
personal blog. It's OK to rant, rave, or preach the need for world peace. Just don't do it
on wesellwidgets.com
As you've probably noticed, a good website has multiple
pages. You should have special web pages for special topics: an "about us" page
for company information, a products and services catalog, the president's blog, etc. When
you advertise or send out links to your site, you should link directly to the most
appropriate page, rather than just the homepage. Of course, that doesn't mean you don't
need a homepage, just that you don't need it to do every single thing you want your
website to accomplish.
Quick Guide to Writing a Business Website Homepage
Important Points to Consider
Target audience
Your business website's homepage must be all things to all
the people who type your URL in their navigation bar, whether it's their six-hundredth
visit or whether they just happened to catch your web address painted on the back of your
car.
Content
For the benefit of new visitors, a homepage must provide a
snapshot of who you are and what visitors can do on your website. Your first one to three
paragraphs should give a quick overview of what visitors can do on your site. For example,
you could include a short paragraph each on "buy widgets," "learn more
about widgets," and "meet other widget enthusiasts," with links to your
shopping cart, informational articles, and message board, respectively.
For returning visitors, the homepage must serve as a
touchstone for navigating the site, announcing new developments and pointing out
especially popular or useful pages. For these visitors you don't have to write anything
new especially for your homepage. Anyone who's coming back to your site is already
interested and is going to want to jump right into the deeper pages of your site, rather
than linger on the homepage wondering whether it's worth their time.
That's why your homepage should include teasers for the
inside pages of your site. For instance, you could have a tip of the week, linked to a web
page on your site with an article explaining it. Good navigation (list of links to the
four to eight most essential web pages on your site) is also a must.
For both new and returning visitors, always give a
prominent place to a featured product or service (or two or three) with a picture, one or
two-sentence description, and a link to its own web page or its place in your
"products and services page," catalog or shopping cart.
You should also always feature a satisfied customer. It's
great if the satisfied customer can send you a picture of himself or herself. But no
matter what, always include a testimonial quotation, and a link to a case study or
customer story on its own web page, which you should definitely find time to write or have
written for you by a website content provider.
Title
Don't title your homepage "Welcome to [name of your
site]." Don't include that message anywhere on your homepage, in fact. It's a waste
of space. This was normal in 1996 but it's pretty passé now. Everyone already knows
they're on your site. What you need to tell them is what they can do there. Try something
like "Buy, Study, and Discuss Widgets."
Also make sure your title incorporates any keywords you
think people might use to search for your product or service on the internet. Search
engines decide how to categorize pages largely based on the homepage title and first
heading text.
Length
Ideally, the first few paragraphs of the homepage (the ones
aimed at new visitors) should not be more than 100-350 words total. The teasers for inside
pages targeted to returning visitors should not be more than about 100 words each.
Making Sure Your Website Has the Best Homepage Possible
Before your homepage goes live, test it out on a few
people. Don't just ask your volunteers how they like your homepage. Courtesy may prevent
you from getting an honest response. Instead, ask them to find how to buy your latest
product or if they understand what's the most important development in your company
recently. If they can navigate to the correct page within about eight seconds (the average
human attention span on the web), you've done well.
You may just want to hire a website copywriter, online
copywriting firm, or website content provider to create your homepage for you. After all,
you wouldn't build your own office building, would you? Of course, that's not an entirely
fair comparison-more people will see your business website homepage than will ever see
your office building.
Copyright © 2005 Joel Walsh |
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